New Podcast Covers How Greenhouse Technology Can Ease Labor Shortage Concerns
Low tech is meeting high tech inside the new Digital Crossroad of America data center in Hammond, IN. Now, researchers from Purdue Northwest (PNW) hope to show it is the future of greenhouse vegetable farming.
During a new Ag+Bio+Science podcast, presented by AgriNovus Indiana, PNW College of Technology Niaz Latif says the research could eventually help farmers who face labor shortages, especially with crops that are harvested by hand.
“An alternative labor solution is very important for those industries that rely on seasonal laborers, and which are not always predictable,” Latif said to podcast and Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick.
A team of researchers from the PNW College of Technology received more than $1 million in federal grants and private funding to test advanced agriculture technology. PNW says Project TRAVERSE uses advanced manufacturing technology, robotics, and cyber-physical systems to develop and pilot test solutions, like remote planting and harvesting of a variety of crops.
“Using technology as an alternative to human resource also addresses the unpredictability on availability of the workers,” Latif said. “What we are trying to do come up with a proven technology that can be adopted by the relevant industry.”
Continue reading at InsideIndianaBusiness.com.
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